ITB Berlin News 2020 - #4

I REGION I AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN I
Sibinacocha Lake, Peru
© Gvillemin
THE
AMERICAS
Americas – mixed fortunes in 2019
The Americas showed a 2% increase in inbound
tourism in 2019 to reach 220 million international
arrivals, according to the UNWTO.
Many smaller island destinations
in the Caribbean saw doubledigit
growth in 2019. Dominica,
Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint
Marteen all recorded doubledigit
increases in both arrivals
and receipts. Among the larger
island destinations, Puerto
Rico rebounded strongly
through August, while Bahamas
continued to grow at double-digit
despite the severe flooding which
occurred in September. Jamaica
enjoyed continued solid growth
benefitting from increased US
visitor numbers, while tourism
to Cuba was affected by travel
restrictions from the United
States and the collapse of
Thomas Cook. The Dominican
Republic, the sub-region’s most
visited destination, recorded a
slight decline in international
arrivals.
North America (+3%) showed
mixed results, with strong
growth in Mexico and Canada
but weaker results in the United
States, the largest destination in
the Americas. Mexico recorded
continued robust results both
in arrivals and receipts through
November, with increased
tourist flows from Canada and
other countries from the region.
After a slow start of the year,
Canada achieved strong results
through October, thanks to a
favourable currency and a surge
in arrivals from North American
and European markets, though
less visitors from China amid
diplomatic tensions.
Inbound data for the United
States available through October
shows a slight decline overall.
Arrivals from its main source
markets, Canada and Mexico,
went down. Growth in arrivals
from top overseas markets the
United Kingdom and Japan
continued to offset declines from
several key markets such as
China and the Republic of Korea.
A strong US dollar is making the
destination less affordable for
some markets and visa issuance
has slowed travel from Asia and
Latin America, according to the
UNWTO Panel of Experts.
Central America achieved a 2%
increase in arrivals, recovering
from the 2019 drop, with uneven
results across destinations.
Costa Rica, the sub-region’s
most visited destination, posted
solid results through November,
while Belize, Honduras and El
Salvador grew above average.
Nicaragua showed a doubledigit
rebound in the second
and third quarters, following a
sharp drop in arrivals in the first
quarter amid political tensions.
Guatemala and Panama posted
more modest results.
International arrivals to South
America were down 3% in
2019, with mixed performance
throughout the year. After a
decline in the first quarter of
2019, the sub-region picked
up in the second quarter but
international arrivals fell again
through the remainder of the
year. Several destinations
recorded a strong decline in
tourist arrivals from Argentina
as a result of the economic
crisis and the weakening of the
Argentinian peso
Source: UNWTO World Tourism Barometer - January 2020
ITB BERLIN NEWS • THURSDAY 26 TH MARCH 2020 • 29